John b



(No Model.)

R E R R I B R m MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 518,775. Patented Apr. 24, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. BIRRER, OF NEWTON, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES W. CHASE,

I 7 OF SAME PLACE.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent .No. 518,775, dated April 24, 1894.

Application filed September 7, 1893. Serial No. l-.85,O31. (No model.)

.invented certain new and useful Improve- .tion of the instrument.

.ments in Stringed Musical Instruments, of

which the following is a full, clear, and. exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to musical instruments and consists in the novel arrange ment and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front eleva- Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line :t-a of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4-. is a section on the line y-y of Fig. 1.

The inventionis an improvement in stringed musical instruments in the nature of guitars, but differs from that class in certain particulars to be pointed out in the detailed description of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the body of the instrument, 2 the head and 3 the neck interposed between the body and the head. The body and head which are both hollow are connected by a lateral hollow chamber 4. The said body and head have sound holes 5 and 6 respectively.

One important feature of the present device is the location of the frets 7 exclusively on the neck of the instrument and of which there are eighteen in number, such a dispo: sition of the frets of course necessitating the placing of the same closer together than is the custom in the ordinary guitar or similar stringed instruments. By this arrangement of frets the strings of the instrument are made correspondingly shorter and the instrument is thus rendered more easy to play and operate, all the frets being on the neck where they are most readily accessible.

The strings, six in number extend from the head to the body being secured to the body on the tail piece 8 and by the keys 9 at the head, the said strings passing over the toothed ridge or nut 10 near the top of the neck. It will be observed that the base of the body is made square at one corner for the arm to rest on and thus the instrument can be held firm without the use of the right hand.

It will be observed that owing to the arrangement of the hollow head and body and the lateral hollow chamber 4 connecting the same the volume of the instrument or its sounding capacity is increased to a maximum; so also the frets being exclusively located on the neck makes the same easily accessible, the frets being closer as they approach the body portion of the instrument. The head, beginning at the upper end of the neck inclines toward the top of the instrument as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, to allow the strings to pass over the ridge and remain permanently in contact with the same. I

From the foregoing it will be observed that the device has the following advantages: It has a maximum volume for its size, is easily handled, the frets are easily accessible being located on the neck exclusively, has sounding chambers both at the head, body and sides, and is arranged to be operated with one hand.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A musical instrument having a hollow body, a hollow head, and a lateral hollow chamber connecting said body and head, substantially as set forth.

2. A musical instrument having a hollow body, a hollow head, a lateral hollow chamber connecting said body and head, a neck connecting said head and body and having a series of frets located exclusively on said neck, substantially as set forth.

3. A musical instrument comprising a hollow body 1 having a square corner at one end thereof, a head 2 also hollow, a hollow lateral chamber at connecting the body and head, a neck connecting the body and head and located to one side of the chamber 4:, frets located exclusively on the neck, sounding holes 2 and 5, strings passing from the body to the top of the head and over the sounding holes 2 and 5, a toothed ridge or nut near the top of the neck over which the strings pass, the head being inclined or beveled from its juncture with the neck to the top of the instrument substantially-as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN B. BIRRER. 

